Towers
by 2211Nighthawk
Summary: The date is September 11, 2014. But had he still been on Cybertron, it would have been a very different day. The day the Towers fell. -Mirage reacts to a newscast about 9/11. My take on the destruction of the Towers.


**Even though I am Canadian, I still know what 9/11 was to my southern neibours the Americans.**

**My mom had been to the WTC and has pictures of before they fell. They were amazing.**

**I wrote this because **

**1 I wanted to and **

**2 because I I had this idea.**

**What I came up with is Mirage (G1 with a side of Bayverse) reacting to a newsfeed about the Twin Towers. Being a Tower mech, it really hit him and, well, to put it lightly, he lost it. **

**This is just kinda parallel between 9/11 and what I imagind the destructon of the Towers would be like.**

**At the end Mirage is still a little sour and what he says is not by any means my opion, Mirage just dosnet see us humans as equals yet.**

**Please don't take offence cause I didn't mean to casue any.**

**FYI- this is a bit of a spoiler for my other FF, The Medical Journals. Feel free to find the little tidbits and connect the dots. You do not need to have read MJ to understand. **

**Thanks to xFlavorChan for beta-ing.**

* * *

><p>I glanced at the screen curiously. I knew that the date was important to the humans at NEST, but I didn't know why.<p>

I walked over to the scaffolding in the middle of the command room, resting a servo on the railing. Major William Lennox acknowledged me with a nod before his gaze slid back to the small screen before Epps.

"_The day that terrorists hijacked __American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 before flying them into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center."_

I felt my energon freeze in my veins. What?

"_At the same time, __American Airlines Flight 77, was crashed into the Pentagon__ and __fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, was aimed for Washington DC. Flight 77 hit its mark, destroying the Western side of the Pentagon while Flight 93 was crashed in a field after her passengers sacrificed their lives to try and retake the plane."_

Lennox shifted then and I got a partial view of the screen.

Smoke was billowing from one of the Towers, the other engulfed in flames as though the aircraft had just struck the building.

_The shuttle flew straight into the base of the East Tower._

I reared back from the railing, gasping at the terrible memory.

Lennox turned to me in concern.

"Mirage, you ok?" He asked, gaining Epps' attention. The black human spun around in his chair, the screen clear before me.

_The Towers screamed as they fell._

I couldn't be here anymore. I spun around and nearly collided with Optimus.

"Mirage! What-!" He sputtered in shock as I dodged around him and dropped into my alt mode, peeling out and leaving black marks on the concrete.

I had locked my comms and activated my spark dampener before I was even out of the tunnel. The men at the gate had no warning that I was coming and I didn't wait for them to raise the bar. I transformed enough to get airborne and jumped the gate, collapsing back into my alt mode as I swerved onto traffic.

"_Those are seekers!"_

I nearly sideswiped a semi, the driver blaring its horn at me but I didn't even hear it. I raced out of the city as fast as I could go and by the time I hit the highway I had a dozen cops on me.

"_Mirage! Run!"_

I activated my camouflage, the coding making my armor tingle before I completely disappeared. I picked up the pace, easily hitting 200 mph as I raced through traffic.

"_They're coming! Hurry!"_

I felt my vents start to choke up. I was heating up, getting uncomfortable.

_The smell of fire and burnt metal stung my senses._

I lost control.

I had gotten into a wooded area, on a narrow two lane and I lost control.

I rolled hard, transforming mid-air to land hard on my back and flipped. I only came to a stop because I slammed into a tree. I felt something snap and I gasped in pain.

_Something tore into my leg and I fell with a choked off scream of pain, energon pouring from the gaping wound in my leg._

"_Mirage!" Jem yelled while skidding to a stop._

"_Don't leave me!" I begged, trying to get up but my leg wasn't responding. _

"_Come on, leave him!" Slider spat, grabbing Jem._

"_Please don't leave me behind!" I fell again, this time unable to stop the scream of pain. She didn't look back. Mechs were running everywhere and somebody tripped over me. I gasped in pain, spots dancing before my vision as I pressed a servo to the leaking mess that was my thigh. _

I rolled away from the tree, energon dripping from crushed plating on my side. I ignored it, clutching my helm in my servos, denta clenched in phantom pain as the memories came spilling back.

Plasma had been in an alley.

He had corned the mech that had crashed into him the orn before.

It was happening all over again.

xxXXxx

"Spawn of a glitch!" Plasma spat, slamming a fist into the drab, olive green mech. His helm snapped back and he coughed, energon dripping from cracked lip plates. But judging from the grimace on Plasma's faceplates it had hurt him more than the other mech.

"Done yet?" I asked casually, leaning against the alley wall, Gem leaning against me with her arm around my lower back and playing with the armor on my sides. I shifted away from her touch, earning a playful growl out of her before she was sticking those pretty slim digits back into my armor.

"Maybe. I'm still fragged that I lost the race." Plasma spat, glaring at me.

"You could have won." Slider said, shifting his grip so that the mech couldn't move.

"I know I could have. But thanks to this glitch-"Plasma growled before slamming his other fist into the mech's jaw again. "I couldn't even enter the race, let alone win!"

I rolled up optics, pulling Jem closer. She hummed, snuggling against my chassis.

"So remind me again why it's this working class scum's fault?" Jem mumbled.

"He hit Plasma turning onto the highway and ended up snapping his leg. He couldn't race last orn and so Dragstrip won the race." I said with a shrug, leaning down to plant a kiss on her lip plates. Her light blue chassis leaned against my royal blue and white one and I ran my servos down her back toward her-

"Ey." She objected, pulling away with a playful smirk on her lip plates. "Not here. Come on Mirage, I am a lady."

With an exaggerated sigh I nodded. Just in time to see Plasma land another blow. I winced at the wet sound. And made the mistake of locking optics with olive colored mech. His optics begged for help. I quickly averted my gaze.

"What's the problem mech!" Plasma demanded. "Too scared to make a sound?"

"No. I just don't have anything important to say." The mech said in a calm and steady voice. It actually caught me off guard at how relaxed the mech seemed even as Plasma beat him to a scrap. "I already apologised after you hit me and-"

"You were in the wrong!" Slider spat, tightening his armor cracking grip on the mech's arms. It was a good thing he had such thick armor or Slider would have snapped his arms. The mech grunted in pain as his shoulders moved into an unnatural position.

"Hey, where is Dino?" Jem asked suddenly.

"Huh?" I asked, snapping my gaze from the beating to her.

"Where's Dino. He was pretty fragged off when he left the race last orn. Second is still pretty good."

"He got caught trying to sneak back into the apartment. Creator flipped." I said with a smirk, remembering the yelling. Not only had it been well after the middle of the night, but he ahd come home completely over charged.

"His fault he wasn't quiet." Jem said with a shrug, snuggling back against me just as I heard a sound.

"Mechs, wait." I snapped. Plasma paused, his servo still raised to hit the mech another time.

"What!" He snarled.

"You hear that?" I asked, the far off rumbling getting louder.

"Yeah. What is it?" Slider asked.

"Don't know." Gem said, looking around. I glanced at the sky nervously. Something was wrong.

"Those are seekers!" Plasma snapped.

"Seekers?! What are they doing here?" Slider demanded, shoving the dingy green mech away from him. He fell against the alley wall with a grunt but didn't move.

"Don't know." I said, slinging an arm around Jem as I started out of the alley. I had a really bad feeling about this. I sensed Plasma and Slider come up behind me and I glanced at them. Plasma was using a rag to try and get the cheap paint off his knuckles. The olive color looked utterly horrible against his rich purple and grey frame. Slider had the same olive marks on his bracers and he scrubbed at them with a cloth as well. It didn't look as bad as Plasma but it still looked terrible against bright green.

A thunderous roar tore through the air and we instinctively ducked as three seekers streaked past overhead.

"What the frag are they doing!" Slider yelled as the seekers pulled up into the air, flipped and came back down to do it again.

"Being stupid afts!" I spat, my arm sliding around Jem protectively. Then came the quiet thuds. I turned toward the sounds, my back to the Towers and saw smoke.

I had heard the rumors.

That Silver, the miner that had led the rebellion a few metacycles ago, had been executed in cold energon.

That the Gladiatorial Games were built to control the working class mechs.

That an Elite had ordered a miner's transformation cog cut out.

That Silver was still online and out for revenge.

The Council said that the miners would be easy to control.

That things wouldn't get out of hand.

But then Kaon had fallen to the Games champion Megatron, a mech claiming to be the missing creation of Sentinel Prime.

Then the rumors became real.

Kalis had been the next to fall.

Then Vos.

Megatron had attacked the Council. He terminated a council member and murdered Sentinel Prime.

Orion was declared the next Prime. Optimus Prime.

Then Silver, working as Megatron's second in command, had executed Sentinel's advisor. The execution had been broadcasted live all around Cybertron.

And now Iacon was under attack.

"Mirage! Run!"

I didn't need to be told twice.

The seekers that had just shot past were back. Mechs and femmes screamed in terror as they opened fire, the smell of hot plasma reaching me. Another three seekers, trines I remembered, screamed past.

"They're Decepticons!" Somebody yelled.

I spun to stare at a seeker as it streaked past. The jagged purple insignia was branded into the seeker's tail fin.

"They're coming! Hurry!"

I ran as fast as I could, Jem and Slider by my side as Plasma took the lead. We headed for the Towers. We'd be safe there.

The smell of fire and burnt metal stung my senses. I shook my helm to clear the smell when more blaster fire opened around us.

Something tore into my leg and I fell with a choked off scream of pain, energon pouring from the gaping would in my leg.

"Mirage!" Jem yelled skidding to a stop.

"Don't leave me!" I begged, trying to get up only my leg wasn't responding.

"Come on, leave him!" Slider spat, grabbing Jem.

"Please don't leave me behind!" I fell again, this time unable to stop the scream of pain. She didn't look back. Mechs were running everywhere and somebody tripped over me. I gasped in pain, spot dancing before my vision as I pressed a servo to the leaking mess that was my thigh.

"Well well well. A royal all by himself." A terrible voice sneered. I looked up in terror to see a dark mech with vicious red optics glaring at me, the barrel of the gun in his servo glowing white hot and the jagged purple insignia on his chassis glaring hatred at me. "Looks like one of the seekers got ya. Too bad for them. This is my count."

I waited for the gun to go off.

It did.

But not at me. I onlined my optics to see the mech collapse to his kneebolts, his helm completely gone, before falling chassis first to the ground. I scrambled back form the gory sight as fast as I could, energon and other fluids making the ground and my servo slick. A rough servo grabbed my shoulder guard and I twisted around in dumb terror thinking it was another Decepticon.

But it was the olive green mech that Plasma had been beating on.

"You alright!" He demanded, the gun in his servo still smoking. I couldn't answer. I was terrified and my leg was on fire.

As though he understood me, he saw my leg. He put his rough servo on it, pressing against the wound. I nearly passed out, the cry of pain getting past my lip plates whether I wanted it to or not.

"The shot severed an energon line. I'm no medic so this will hurt. You might want to watch our backs." He said before he started welding on a temporary patch.

I nearly blacked out again it hurt so badly.

Mechs and femmes were screaming and being shot all around us. I wanted to shut off my audios but then another seeker might come up on us.

"Done. Come on, we need to get out of the line of fire." The mech said, grabbing my shoulder guard with energon slick servos. My energon. I tried not to purge as the mech hauled me to my peds. I stumbled on my bad leg, the temp plating he had welded in place already starting to crack.

Another trine of seekers screamed past over heard and I watched in horror as they headed for the Towers. At the last possible nano-klick they banked away from the sensor net cloaking the Towers.

"At least the net is still holding." The mech growled before glancing behind us frantically. "Where the frag are the others?!"

"What others." I managed to gasp.

"So you do speak." The mech said with a forced chuckle. "The Autobots. They-"

The mech was cut off as something exploded beside us, throwing us both to the ground. Glass and metal rained down on us. The patch on my leg tore and I clapped a servo back to the wound trying not to cry out in pain.

"Fraggit that was a close call." The mech barked, scrambling back over to me. Energon was leaking from his badly cut shoulder and I could still see a jagged shard of metal imbedded in the joint.

Another terrible shriek rang though the air but it wasn't another missile. I watched as two seekers collided midair, both screaming at each other as they clawed at each other's wings. They broke apart just feet from the ground and one of the seekers slammed into the ground. The other just managed to roll the devastating landing off, sliding a few feet before coming to a stop on his chassis. He scrambled back to his peds in an instant, bright blue optics looking onto us.

"You alright!" He demanded.

"What's going on Silverbolt, why are there Decepticons everywhere!" The mech demanded.

"I don't know. Prime's already on his way but we're outnumbered badly. Starscream's got his whole fraggin' armada here and is tearing the place to pieces." The seeker said, bolting to the mech's side.

"Targets?" The mech asked.

"Don't know. The Hall of Records is being shot to Pit, the Estates, most of the outer rings, there's no pattern. Nothing. Prowl is ready to glitch." The seeker said before finally noticing me.

"You gonna stay online?" He asked.

I nodded dumbly.

"Then get moving, we can only hold them off for so long!" The seeker snarled before jumped into the air, transforming and blasting off, guns blazing.

"Come on mech, if we can get inside that sensor net we'll be alright." The mech said, offering me a servo. I accepted it without thinking, letting him pull me to my peds and steadied me as my leg gave out.

As fast as I could go we headed for the Towers. Blaster fire and missiles continued to rain fire and shrapnel everywhere. A mech screamed in pain as a turquoise colored mech with a vicious red visor slammed two double edged blades deep into his sparkchamber. The mech collapsed as the Decepticon turned to us.

"Frag… Ajax." Hound hissed, charging his gun. The Decepticon smirked, moving toward us, sharp angular armor reflecting the carnage around us. The mech beside me tensed, armor flaring in fear. I knew Ajax. He was one of the Games Champions alongside Megatron and the former Champion, Silver. I also knew his reputation.

"Can you transform at all?" The mech asked in a near whisper as Ajax got closer.

"I'm not sure." I said, staring at that terrifying red visor.

"Guess we're gonna find out." The mech said, taking a nervous step back even as the ex- gladiator's faceplates split into a savage grin. But before he could take another step a plasma blast nearly took his helm off. He spun to the new threat as a huge black mass of mech tackled the turquoise one with a savage yell.

"Fraggit! Get that glitch out of here!" The mech snared as the two fought.

I ignored the insult as the mech slung his arm around my shoulder guard again.

But then I heard it again.

I stopped dead in my peds.

"What are you doing, we've got to move! Ironhide can only hold him off for so long before that Decepticon spawn of a glitch gets a lucky blade in!" The mech demanded.

I couldn't answer him.

The shuttle was far too low.

I hadn't seen it until it breached the skyline.

The sensor net suddenly flared white, the done shape arching over the Towers sparking a few times before dissolving.

The shuttle flew straight into the base of the East Tower.

It exploded, the green fire a dead giveaway that the shuttle had been filled with explosive chemicals.

"Primus no…!" The mech beside me gasped.

I could only stare at it in horror.

Another shuttle came over the horizon. It struck half way up the North Tower.

It also exploded in green fire.

"No!" I heard myself scream.

Then I remembered my brother.

"**Dino!" **I screamed over the comms. But all I got was static. I took a lurching step toward the burning Towers.

"Wait, what you are doing!" The mech yelled, grabbing my arm.

I shoved him off with a savage snarl.

"My brother is in there!" I spat, turning just in time to see a third shuttle hit halfway up the East Tower.

I could hear the groan of over stretched metal from here and horror turned to dumb shock as the Tower started to lean.

And lean.

And lean.

With a shriek of tearing metal it gave way, the Tower falling and slamming into the already damaged North Tower.

It started to collapse as well, the once pride and joy of Iacon's skyline tipping and falling into the crowds with a boom that shook the planet, kicking up metal shards and glass into my faceplates.

My vents were starting to choke from the dust in the air, the horrible smell of burnt metal getting worse.

"Dino!" I scream again, only to find the mech holding my arm again.

"We have to get back! There's another bomber coming!" The mech barked. I tried to jerk free but I couldn't find the strength as the forth shuttle hit the West Tower, also at the base.

Then a fifth.

Then a sixth.

The Towers screamed as they fell, hundreds of mechs and femmes crushed beneath the falling Towers and slaughtered under the guns of the Decepticons.

xxXXxx

"Mirage!"

xxXXxx

Energon was everywhere. The mech had shoved me up against a building at one point, rubble from the South Tower slamming to the ground where we had been mere klicks before.

"No no no-" I repeated, gripping my helm in my servos as if to stop the memories.

"Hey! Listen to me!" The mech yelled, jerking my servos away from my helm and forcing me to look him in the optics.

"You're online, we're both online! Come on! We have to keep moving! The Decepticons are retreating and the Autobots are here in full force!"

xxXXxx

"Mirage! Mirage talk to me! Come on mech!"

xxXXxx

They were gone.

The Towers were gone.

Nothing but a massive pile of metal and crushed frames and destruction.

The mech had pulled me to my peds again.

I just wanted to collapse.

Wanted to offline.

Wanted to erase what I had seen.

Wanted to forget.

Wanted my brother.

Dino.

Where was he!

xxXXxx

A hard slap brought me back to the present.

I was slumped on the side off the road, energon trickling down my side, the tree broken in half.

I had hit it.

Who had hit me?

"Mirage, fraggit, snap out of it! You're scaring me!"

I forced my optics up to the familiar grey and olive green faceplates.

xxXXxx

They were coated in energon.

The mech had taken a nasty gash across his helm, the energon dripping down his faceplates.

The shrapnel had been meant for me.

He had taken it.

Why.

I had watched Plasma beat him.

"Which Tower was Dino in?" The mech asked, brushing the energon from his optics with the back of his servo.

"Nor…North." I stuttered. The mech got to his peds with a wince.

When had I sat down? Or had I fallen.

"I'll find him. Just stay here." The mech said, starting to walk away.

I would be alone.

"No!" I gasped, lunging for his bracer.

The mech spun back to me in surprise.

I was weak.

"Please don't leave me." I begged, seeing Plasma and Jem and Slider leave me behind. "Please don't leave me alone."

The mech didn't move, my grip on his bracer wouldn't let him.

I couldn't look him in the optics though. Not after he had silently pleaded for help and I had done nothing.

"They left you behind. Those mechs." He said finally.

I couldn't answer.

Screams still filled the air.

The mech shifted and I snapped terrified optics up to his blue ones.

"I'll stay." He said quietly, coming to sit beside me.

I felt coolant start to pool in my optics.

I was trembling.

My leg was numb and I was terrified that the mech would leave.

I knew I needed to be looking for my brother but I couldn't move.

I started to sob.

xxXXxx

A rough worn servo was rubbing my back.

I took another shuddering vent, my frame starting to cool down as the tears started to subside.

"You're alright Mirage. You survived that. You've survived worse. Dino is fine. We found him remember?"

"I can't do this." I whispered. "The memories keep coming back. I can't control them."

"That's why we're here Mirage. That's why I'm here. It's what friends do."

xxXXxx

They found Dino buried in the rubble almost a full cycle after the- they fell.

Medics were called in from every corner of Cybertron. Even a medic and his mate had come from Praxus.

My leg was repaired at the Autobot base but I didn't know what had happened to the olive green mech.

Dino was in stasis for almost a groon.

He said that he had been sleeping off the orn before's party. The only warning he had gotten was when he had fallen off of the berth when the- it started to collapse.

He said that I was weak.

I kept having nightmares so I was weak.

But he didn't know what I had heard.

What I had smelt.

What I _saw_.

Saw mechs crushed before your very optics.

Heard their final screams.

Had their energon on your frame.

He didn't understand why I kept hanging around that working class medic, looking for the mech.

I needed to ask him why.

Why had he helped me?

Why had he risked his life for me when I refused to help him?

Why had he stayed by my side when I wept and sobbed for my life and home?

He found me first.

He had been repaired, sent back to active duty.

He was an Autobot. One of their scouts.

One of their best.

He had turned away from me.

"Wait!" I called after him, walking faster to get to him.

I saw his armor flare a bit.

It was back like before.

I was an Elite.

And he was a working class.

"You… you saved my life. When… when the- when they fell." I said.

"Yeah. Yeah I did." The mech said quietly.

"Why!" I blurted finally.

He looked up at me in surprise.

"Why? Why what?"

"Why did you help me when I refused to stop Plasma?" I asked dropping my gaze to the floor.

The mech was silent but I could feel his optics watching me.

"Because to me, when I saw you leaking on the street, it looked like you needed a friend in life more than anything." The mech said in his calm and laid back voice. "And risking your spark for another is what friends do."

xxXXxx

Hound.

The mech's designation was Hound.

My optics finally cleared and I was able to focus on his distraught faceplates.

"You're scarring me Mirage." Hound said, his servos still painfully gripping my shoulders. "You have to stop doing this to yourself. I know the Towers was a terrible day for you, for all of Iacon, but you have to keep going!"

"They destroyed everything!" I spat.

I had my sire's temper.

Just like Dino.

But I had control over it.

I lost it now.

"They destroyed everything that was important to me!"

"Did they?" Hound asked, finally releasing my shoulders. "They destroyed buildings. Yes the Decepticons terminated hundreds of mechs and femmes. But you're still here Mirage. You survived the Towers, survived a War. There are so few of us left, how many can say that."

"They fell so fast…" I trailed off, the images still playing behind my optics.

Hound sighed before shifting his legs to sit on the ground cross-legged in front of me.

"You know the date?" He asked.

I nodded.

"September 11, 2014."

"It's also the day the Towers fell in New York." Hound said quietly. "It funny, in a sad way, how similar we are to the humans. Or they to us."

"What do you mean."

"Terrorists killed hundreds of people when they crashed those two passenger jets into the World Trade Center." Hound continued.

"So? Thousands offlined in Iacon. The entire city of New York would have had to die for the numbers to be the same."

"Its not the death toll that people remember. It's the act. The Twin Towers were the pride and joy of New York. They were the tallest towers in world. Much like the Towers were in Iacon. The Decepticons destroyed the Towers to make a point. To hurt the Elites and teach them a lesson no one would forget."

"It worked."

"Terrorists destroyed the Twin Towers to make a point as well. But you know what the difference is?"

"I didn't know there was a similarity."

"They rebuild. New York City rebuilt. They started over. Terrorists tried to crush them but they persevered and they rebuilt."

"We can't rebuild Hound!" I objected. "There's nothing to rebuild! Cybertron is dead!"

"We can rebuild here. Our relationships with the people of this planet are getting stronger. Yes, the Towers, on Cybertron and on Earth, were a terrible day for everyone that witnessed the destruction. But it made them stronger. It made us stronger. And it's made _you_ stronger. The mech that stood off to the side, watching his friend turn me into scrap metal doesn't exist anymore. He died when the Towers fell. The Towers stripped you. Left you with nothing and no one. Thousands of New Yorkers were left the same way. But they still had hope. Hope for a new start. And they did it."

"New York is as strong and bright as ever." Hound said with a smile. "What won't kill you will only make you stronger."

"I don't understand."

"The most difficult and hard lessons in life are the ones we learn the most from. The mistake was the terrorist attack. And New York came back."

"What are you saying."

"That you can rebuild. Maybe not the lifestyle you had back on Cybertron, but the friends. The family. The _memories_. They can all be rebuilt." Hound explained. "Come on though. The others are worried about you. They didn't know why you took off like that." Hound said, offering me his servo.

And again, I took it without thinking.

Hound had saved my life that day.

Now he saved my sanity.

The drive back to base was quiet.

We drove back through the gate and into the hanger.

Optimus was there, watching us with concerned optics.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

I knew he wasn't talking about my physical wounds.

"I… I am now." I said quietly, glancing at Hound.

"The humans are holding a small memorial service to honor those that died in the 9/11 terrorist attack. The others will be there. I was wondering of you would join us." Optimus continued.

"Yes… I… I think I would." I said, giving my true friend and comrade in arms a smile.


End file.
